While attending summer camp (Bar V Ranch)in Nuevo, CA in 1941, I believe, we did a day trip to March Field to look at the B-19. All I can recall, as a 8 year old boy, is that it was the biggest airplane I'd ever seen and my standing next to one of the main wheels that towered above me. I've never forgotten the B-19 and always wondered what became of it.

Looking at the pictures, it appears that Douglas made some super sized DC-3 wings for it and maybe the tail, also. 09/02/2011 @ 04:38 [ref: 48390]

k. page hemet, CA

In the year 1941 my uncle Cecil H. Page worked as a machinist for Douglas, Santa Monica & he took me to watch the roll out of the B-19. To an 8 yr. old I was overwhelmed by the size, especially since it was parked next to a Curiss P-40 fighter plane. We then watched it slowly take off & I asked where it was going. I was told to March Amy Airforce base. At that time I had no concept of where that was. (Before freeways.)
For sometime after it's testing chores were over it was parked at Mines field in Inglewood, Ca. & could be seen from Imperial hwy. while driving by the airfield.
At the time it had been painted in the military khacki color.
It still appeared to be a tremendously large aircraft in those days. 07/01/2011 @ 10:34 [ref: 39886]

JACK G BERKELEY, CA

I know this is a weird question, here goes,

Might someone out there know where I could get plans for the B-19, I want to build a model of this great plane.

Thanks

Jack G 06/25/2011 @ 07:29 [ref: 39791]

JACK G BERKELEY, CA

I know this is a weird question, here goes,

Might someone out there know where I could get plans for the B-19, I want to build a model of this great plane.

Thanks

Jack G 06/25/2011 @ 07:29 [ref: 39790]

John Webber , CA

"On September 29, 1936, Douglas Aircraft received an order for a prototype long-range bomber. Designated the XB-19, this airplane was the largest American bomber ever flown until after WWII. Although only one was built, the big plane with a crew of eighteen proved to be an invaluable aid in the design of future Air Force bombers. It continued to serve until 1949 when it was sadly cut up for scrap.

This original piece of mail was onboard as the B-19 made its first flight from Santa Monica to March Field on June 27, 1941"

MY DAD, TRUMAN LAUNER WORKED FOR DOUGLAS AIRCRAFT 1938-1947
HE WAS PROJECT ENGINEER FOR B-19 DOUGLAS DID NOT WANT THE
CONTRACT FOR B-19 AS THEY HAD SEVERAL PENDING CONTRACTS AND THEY
WANTED TO BUILD FOR WHO EVER GOT THE CONTRACT,BOWLING GOT IT
WITH THEIR B-29. MY DAD HELPED BUILD B-29 AT SANTA MONICA ,CALIF.
AS LONG AS DOUGLAS BUILT THEM. ONE OF THE REASONS DOUGLAS DID NOT
GET THE CONTRACT FOR THE B-19 WAS BECAUSE IT WAS TOO SLOW. IN ORDER
FOR THE B-19 TO BE SLOWER WAS BECAUSE THE 2 WING WHEELS WERE EACH
12 FT DIAMETER AND THEY COULD NOT FULLY RETRACT INTO THE WINGS,
THUS SLOWING THE PLANE CONSIDERABLY. I HAVE ALL THE DOCUMENTS FOR
THE B-19, I DONATED ALL THE DOCUMENTS MY DAD HAD FOR THE B-29 TO
THE CONFIDERATE AIR WHEN A B-17 LOST A MOTOR AND IT AND A B-29
AT CAPITOL AIR PORT WAITING FOR REPAIRS ON THE B-17. IN EXCHANGE I WAS ALLOWED TO CRALL AROUND THE B-29 AND LATER FLY IN IT AND B-17
ALLOWED TO SPEND SEVERAL DAYS CRAWLING AROUND THE B-29 AND GOT TO
FLY IN THE B-29 AND LATER IN THE B17 THAT WAS QUITE A THRILL FOR ME 02/08/2011 @ 19:53 [ref: 35956]

eldon Launer springfield, IL

MY DAD, TRUMAN LAUNER WORKED FOR DOUGLAS AIRCRAFT 1938-1947
HE WAS PROJECT ENGINEER FOR B-19 DOUGLAS DID NOT WANT THE
CONTRACT FOR B-19 AS THEY HAD SEVERAL PENDING CONTRACTS AND THEY
WANTED TO BUILD FOR WHO EVER GOT THE CONTRACT,BOWLING GOT IT
WITH THEIR B-29. MY DAD HELPED BUILD B-29 AT SANTA MONICA ,CALIF.
AS LONG AS DOUGLAS BUILT THEM. ONE OF THE REASONS DOUGLAS DID NOT
GET THE CONTRACT FOR THE B-19 WAS BECAUSE IT WAS TOO SLOW. IN ORDER
FOR THE B-19 TO BE SLOWER WAS BECAUSE THE 2 WING WHEELS WERE EACH
12 FT DIAMETER AND THEY COULD NOT FULLY RETRACT INTO THE WINGS,
THUS SLOWING THE PLANE CONSIDERABLY. I HAVE ALL THE DOCUMENTS FOR
THE B-19, I DONATED ALL THE DOCUMENTS MY DAD HAD FOR THE B-29 TO
THE CONFIDERATE AIR WHEN A B-17 LOST A MOTOR AND IT AND A B-29 WAS
AT CAPITOL AIR PORT WAITING FOR REPAIRS ON THE B-17. IN EXCHANGE I WAS
ALLOWED TO SPEND SEVERAL DAYS CRAWLING AROUND THE B-29 AND GOT TO
FLY IN THE B-29 AND LATER IN THE B17 THAT WAS QUITE A THRILL FOR ME 02/08/2011 @ 19:45 [ref: 35955]

Paul King George, VA

EBAY will be offering a collection of old miltary planes and ships along with some other very interesting pictures.

Include, I think are 2 unique pictures of the 19.
I think they were colected by Les Statton.

I was just looking at the large photograph my Dad has framed of the B-19...my Granpa was one of its pilots on its flight to Wright-Patterson. We were discussing it just today, wondering if it's still in Mississippi or in a boneyard somewhere. Grandpa served with aviation pioneers; he was chosen as a crewmember for the Question Mark, trained British pilots to fly B-17s, and knew EVERYONE in aviation from WWI Expeditionary Forces until he retired after 31.5 years in the Army/Air Corps/Air Force. 04/03/2009 @ 15:30 [ref: 24065]

Ellis Bonnell Lore City, OH

In 1943 I worked as a typist at Air Service Command, Patterson Field, Dayton, Ohio. I roomed in Dayton and every morning my bus would pass Wright Field on the way. The B19 sat in plain sight. The level ground to the west of Wright Field was surrounded by houses and could not be expanded in that direction. Wright Field was the location of experimental aircraft testing of the Air Force (Army Air Corps at that time). The original runway was not long enough for the B19. To make it possible to operate the B19 from that location, the runway was extended up the hill to the east. The plane would land from the from the west end, and get stopped on the upslope. To take off, it was taxied to the top of the hill so it could take advantage of the downslope to gain speed for its takeoff.
In a related matter, In 1942 or 1943, I was sitting in school in Old Washington, Ohio. As usual I was gawking out the window and saw a single engined plane headed west. My immmediate reaction was that it was a German ME109. I dismissed it as a simple misidentity. to my surprise the next day there was an article in the Cambridge, Ohio Daily Jeffersonian stating that a ME109 had landed at the airport there to take on fuel. It was on its way to Wright Field for testing. 01/31/2009 @ 12:51 [ref: 23588]